A REPORT will recommend eight residential pitches but no transit site for Gypsy, Traveller and Travelling Show families in Denbighshire.

Drawn-out plans to provide pitches for travelling families will become clearer following scrutiny committee and cabinet votes by Denbighshire County Council members over the local authority’s report into the accommodation needs of Gypsy, Traveller and Travelling Show people.

The report says there is a need for eight residential pitches to meet the needs of Gypsy, Traveller and Travelling Show households over the next five years, while there is “no evidence” of the need for a permanent transit site.

The report also says a “management-based approach” to maintaining the sites should be enforced.

It does not propose any pitch site locations, which remains a point of contention after proposals for St Asaph and Denbigh were met with fierce opposition from residents and ward councillors in 2019.

The assessment within the report was completed after the involvement of Gypsy and Traveller families, key stakeholders and representative groups in Denbighshire.

It forms part of the local authority’s legal duty under the Housing (Wales) Act 2014 to undertake a new Gypsy and Traveller Accommodation Assessment every five years. The proposals will also be included in an update of the council’s Local Development Plan.

The scrutiny committee will review the report on December 9 before it will be considered by the cabinet on December 14, ahead of a submission to Welsh Government.

Mark Young, Denbighshire’s cabinet member for planning, public protection and safer communities, made clear that the proposals did not identify any locations for pitch sites.

“This work has been conducted in line with the Welsh Government methodology and we have established a Task and Finish group made up of elected members from across Denbighshire to ensure it has been carried out correctly,” he said.

“The council has taken on board concerns raised during previous work and both senior officers and Cabinet members are involved in this project and we are keeping key stakeholders and members of the community updated.

“This work does not seek to identify locations to meet this need, that would be a future piece of work and necessary for the LDP.”